Hello everyone! So, it is time to reveal the answers for our April author interview session. We interviewed Romance and Erotica authors last month. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all seven authors who took part in this author interview!

Here is the answer to the first question: Do you plan the characters in your story? Do you believe that strong characters should resemble real-life people?

Absolutely. The one book I wrote freely, with no planning, was a disaster. J I feel like characters should resemble real life people that readers can relate to, so I write my own stories with that in mind, giving characters real problems. Most of my characters are in their thirties and forties, with real jobs. I’ve never really spent much time with CEOs or billionaires, so I don’t write about them.

Most of my story ideas come to me in the form of dialogue or full scenes so I wouldn’t say the characters are exactly planned. Their personalities do come out in the writing of the book or story. I do a major character work-up when I am more focused on the project; when I do that, I try to figure out the character’s secrets or how they would react to certain situations as well as their background. I do believe that characters should be complex and as close to real people as we can make them. I don’t usually base them on anyone in my life, but I do want readers to relate to them.

Most of my characters are based on someone in my life, or a mash-up of people. When I am coming up with a side character, I draw on people I have met. If I need an aggressive person, I will go through my mental Rolodex of people I’ve met to pull traits for that character. If I need someone more passive, I do the same.

My primary characters tend to be based more so on a single person, although sometimes a side character demands to be heard and ends up in a more visible role in the story. When this happens, they tend to already have developed their personality in my mind and are easy to write.

In regards to if strong characters should resemble real-life people, I think it’s to each their own. There are so many different books out there, so many different story lines, that I feel it is unfair to make hard and fast rules about characterization. We all like different things. I can give a book 5 stars, and someone else gives it 1 star. Who am I to say what someone else should read or like? I think the diversity of books available represents the diversity of the world we live in.

Um, that’s two questions, but I’ll answer both truthfully and honestly.  Yes. I plan the characters in my stories. Sometimes, however, some characters just show up and I have to make room for them. I love it when characters pop in.

I believe all characters, whether strong or not should be realistic—not cardboard. Even the strongest character has flaws. Even the weakest character has strengths. For readers to be able to connect, all characters must emit some kind of quality—even if it isn’t written outright, but implied instead. As writers, we need to ask ourselves, “Why should the reader care?”

Question #2 is “Do you have a specific goal to achieve through your stories or is your story just for pure fun?”

What do you think these authors’s will be? Watch out for the next post !